FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/21/2003

Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission and Dane County Emergency Management Schedule Public Sessions Throughout County To Share Information, Seek Input

A series of informational meetings will be held as part of a county-wide effort to better understand, prevent, respond to and minimize future losses from, flooding in Dane County.

Spearheaded by the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission, along with Dane County Emergency Management, the project is funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). As part of the project, a comprehensive assessment of the flooding problem throughout the county has been completed.

Public meetings at which the results of the assessment will be discussed and public comment taken, are scheduled during the first two weeks of May in five locations: Black Earth, DeForest, Madison, Cottage Grove and Verona. A complete schedule, with times and locations, is included at the end of this press release.

“We know floods are costly,” said Dave Janda of Dane County Emergency Management. “Over the past decade, floods in Dane County have resulted in more than $42 million in damages to farm land, crops, homes, shorelines and roads. But they are also complex. Here in Dane County there is no single cause, as might be the case for, example, in Mississippi River communities where flooding is tied directly to the river.”

Sue Jones, Dane County’s Watershed Management Coordinator, said, “After the exhaustive assessment we’ve completed, we are in a much better position in terms of understanding the interplay of factors that cause widespread, major flooding, in explaining those factors to our citizens and in charting a course of action to minimize future losses.” Jones added, “We look forward to sharing our findings with citizens and to hearing their concerns, priorities and input before we prepare our final set of recommended action items.”